The Wilderness Requirement for Change:  Easter, Passover and the State of the Congregation

Rev. Jody Whelden – April 16, 2006

Prairie UU Society - Madison, WI

            "It is in vain to dream of a wilderness distant from ourselves. There is none such. It is the bog in our brains and bowels, the primitive vigor of Nature in us that inspires that dream. I shall never find in the wilds of Labrador any greater wildness than in some recess of Concord, i.e. than I import into it."

                                    - Henry David Thoreau, Journal, August 30, 1856

READINGS  The Wilderness of Neural Possibility............James Neill, 1998

            I think of thought as a wilderness of possibility - a wilderness of neural possibility, if you like. Most people take the highway. These are the thoughts we think everyday, the thoughts that are dug like ruts into our mind, the recorded neural circuits where we just push 'play' and away they go again, on the merry-go-round created by psychological habits.

            Then there are some sealed side roads. We have been up these roads before when we were curious; these are favorite little ideas of ours which we've picked up from here and there and embellished, etc. and they are quaint little country roads that we wander down for a cup of Devonshire tea every now and then.

            Off these roads there are some dirt tracks. These are roads where very occasionally we put our mind into four-wheel drive and go chasing through the bush. The branches might scrape the side of our car, the bumps might surprise us.

            Off these dirt roads, there are some footracks. This is where we might get out of our cars and walk along in the bush of unexplored with almost brand new thoughts crowding all around.

            Very occasionally we might dare to enter the virgin bush and think a thought for which there has been no neural precedent, an entirely new combination. This is rare. This is dangerous. The habits, the preferences say its easier to think all the old thoughts that you've been thinking for years.

            To step in new places without defaulting to the old circuits is extremely difficult. But it can be done. By pushing on through the unknown forest you might arrive at a new discovery, a beautiful pool, an untouched river, a spectacular rockface. You might even see a wild creature that no-one has ever seen before. You might find a great cave. These are possibilities. Or you may be too afraid and go running back to your car, puffing and panting, relieved to be back inside with the windows wound up, heading back to the highway of your mental habits.

            This is the wilderness of thought. The choice is yours.

MATTHEW 26:19-28      

            19.  Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsem'ane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I go yonder and pray."  20.  And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zeb'edee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  21.    Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me."  22.  And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."  23..  And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with me one hour?   24.  Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  25.  Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done."  26.  And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.   27.  So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words.   28.  Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed...”

Reflections

            Today we talk about wilderness experiences of the mind and heart.  Wilderness can be defined as a wild and uninhabited area.  James Neil says.

“ I think of thought as a wilderness of possibility. A wilderness of neural possibility, if you like.”

            To me that means, you have choice of going on the familiar routes your mind has grown, or venturing into the wilderness, where you do not have clear paths to follow, and no roadmap of how to get there.  Since it is the time of year for Easter and Passover, I am including them in my reflections.  

             The Easter Story is of a man who has committed himself to a lifelong wilderness experience of body, mind and soul.  Jesus was willing to live in such uncharted territory in his mind, in order to serve people and the beliefs he lived by.  The Passover is of an entire nation of people leaving home overnight on the promise of  freedom in a new country - the great story of immigration.  But first, let us speak of ourselves.

            We have all had wilderness experiences - where we entered uncharted territory.   These moments in all of our lives are reflected in James Neill's words from our reading....to ...

”...dare to enter the virgin bush and think a thought for which there has been no neural precedent, an entirely new combination. This is rare. This is dangerous. The habits, the preferences say its easier to think all the old thoughts that you've been thinking for years.”

            For myself, I have choose the wilderness as often as I can.  It has always been where my deepest satisfaction has come, and the place that gets me in the most trouble.   As a child I remember an eighth grade art class where Miss French told us we could draw a picture of the universe anyway we wanted to. She said, “Here are some shapes you can use if you want to use them.” - and she drew them on the board.  I put my head down and drew furiously for a half hour. 

            Then, she put everyone's pictures went up.  To my dismay, mine was the only one that was entirely original.  Everyone else had used Miss French's shapes.  I was mortified.  Thank goodness for Miss French, though. As she went down the row of drawings,  she pointed out my uniqueness and hailed it as well done. I felt much better, and pleased that I had struck out on my own.”

            Let us begin with Easter -   I chose the story of Jesus in the Garden, after the Last Supper and right before he is arrested.   Human beings write all the Bible stories and human beings edited them and they, like all authors, had a certain theme they were trying to communicate.   I thought the authors who wrote this story had certain things to teach about being in a personal wilderness.   This particular story appears in each of the 4 Gospels, which is one of the scholarly tests for authenticity.  It is called the “Test of Multiple Sources.”

             Jesus is in the Garden.  He has gone there after the Passover Supper and he knows the guards will be coming to arrest him soon. In the next two days he will be tried, convicted and executed.  This is his last time alone, with the disciples.   First, though, the people who are supposed to be helping him keep going to sleep,

            “23.[40] And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with me one hour? “

Secondly, also, he knows Judas is off turning him into the authorities,

            28.       [45] Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed...”

And, thirdly, he knows he will go through a tortuous experience and die ...he is looking for a way out, if possible.... 

            22.       [39] And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;                            nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."

            The academics approach to the Bible story is to think about what the editor has tried to emphasize and to look for themes in the stories. One theme I see is that Jesus, even in his own wilderness experience, is willing to revisit, with patience and kindness, the sleeping behavior of the disciples.  Although he has to wake them 3 times, he is willing to do that, confront them and teach them.  He does not lose his patience.

            24.       [41] Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

            Secondly, he is scared, also.  He asks if there is a way out. He would be glad to take it... and he accepts what he must do, if he must.  This story teaches us that being afraid is normal and recommitting to a difficult takes must be done over and over again.  We make the choice to continue in the wilderness - that is find the new way - over and over again.

            Once we go new places, we can't go back - even if we want to - like in Narnia: The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. This classic children's story is showing in the theaters now.   Four child siblings find on of those large furniture wardrobe closets, go into it and past big hanging coats and magically fall out the back.   Instead of hitting a wall, they tumble into a beautiful snow covered forest on other side.  This is Narnia.

            Although the children return back through the wardrobe to their own house, they can never see the wardrobe the same way again. They want to see if they can do it again. When they do go back into the wardrobe they reemerge in the magical forest.  Now, they must wrestle with the challenges the forest gives them...in this case, an evil witch and her evil doings.  As they do that, their own characters develop and they make choices which change them.  Again, the wilderness experience is the place where they create themselves, anew.

            In the Hebrew story of Exodus, the Passover story is about God freeing the Hebrew people from being slaves under the Pharaoh in Egypt.   As they escape they begin the process of creating themselves anew as the Jewish People in a land of their own.  

            The root word for Passover comes from the Hebrew root Peh-Samech-Chet, meaning to pass through, to pass over, to exempt or to spare.   It refers to the fact that the night before Moses led the people out of Egypt, G-d told Moses to tell the people to make a special meal from lamb.  They were to take the blood of the lamb and mark the doors of their houses. In that way God would "pass over" - or spare them. Meanwhile, GOD slayed the first-born male child of all Egyptian families, to convince Pharaoh to finally let the Hebrew people go from slavery and to leave the land.   He was convinced and the Exodus started the next day.

            As we listen to this story we can think about what these authors were emphasizing.  Of course, they wanted to show the superiority of their God to the Pharaoh's many gods. But, also they were talking about how one must prepare oneself for a wilderness experience.  One must expect things to be different; one must sustain oneself individually and help each other as a group.   Come together, eat well, share experiences, trust the people which you have come to know as trustworthy.  The lessons can all be drawn from this story.

             Wilderness experiences are in the news, of course, also.  Sr. Joan Chittister, a Benedictine Sister presently serves as the co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, a partner organization of the United Nations, facilitating a worldwide network of women peace builders, especially in the Middle East.

She wrote recently: ”There is such a thing as being too “American,” too sure of how easy it is to be part of a democratic society.  I proved it to myself last week.

            The Women's Global Peace Initiative, the U.N. partnership organization of which I am a member, met in New York City for the first of what is intended to be a series of conferences between Iraqi and American women. The hope is to be able to create alliances between U.S. and Iraqi women in order to respond as women to the circumstances in Iraq together while the politicians go on doing political things and the military goes on shooting. But don't be misled by the word “conference.” This was not a conversation ala U.S.A.

            This was, in part, a shouting match. It was, furthermore, always a confusion of positions. The Iraqi delegates contradicted themselves and argued with one another at the same time. There were, we discovered, as many Iraqis in the room as there were Iraqis.

            Someplace along the way, I began to realize that if there were ever a metaphor for what is really going on in Iraq, this firestorm of shouting, accusing, pleading, gratitude, threats and resentment had to be it.  It was an exercise in democracy for people who are just learning what democracy means -- and do not like all of its implications or understand all of its demands.

            “Maelstrom” is too mild a word for what happened in the session -- and yet, in the end, there was no doubt that what is really going on in Iraq became far clearer in this room than it was in the morning papers........

...While the Iraqis try to understand that democracy does not mean the consent of the majority to repress minority opinions or experiences, as some of these women attempted to do to other women in the meeting in New York, (the US) we will be trying to chart our own future regardless of theirs.

            While the Iraqis are learning that the democratic process is meant to gather all the ideas of a group and then test each of them for their wisdom and their justice rather than silence any of them, (the US) we will be trying to decide ourselves what direction we want for our own country.”

            No, as Sister Chittister makes clear, wilderness experiences are no picnic, but we can work to behave honorably.  We can prepare ourselves, we can listen to differences, we can take care of each other, we can forgive each other, we can nourish and feed each other along the way.  We can expect bumps in the road and difficult times. 

            And, out of them we can make choices by understanding what James Neill puts this way ---

“To step in new places without defaulting to the old circuits is extremely difficult. But it can be done. By pushing on through the unknown forest you might arrive at a new discovery, a beautiful pool, an untouched river, a spectacular rockface. You might even see a wild creature that no-one has ever seen before. You might find a great cave. These are possibilities. Or you may be too afraid and go running back to your car, puffing and panting, relieved to be back inside with the windows wound up, heading back to the highway of your mental habits.

            This is the wilderness of thought. The choice is yours.”

            Finally, as a congregation, Prairie has also been on a wilderness experience this year.  You have gone out and explored having a minister and working towards more growth.  I think we can feel good about what we have accomplished this year.  One of our great strengths is that we know how to support each other and how to work together.  There have been times of working through the hard things. We have worked to create new things - like the Covenant of Right Relationships.  We have done many things well.  Continuing these things - like taking care of each other, getting more clear with each other and being more loving towards each other can help us move forward through the uncharted territory ahead of us.

            The wilderness is a necessary part of the human life.  May we have the courage to move into it, no matter how scary or difficult, knowing we may have to travel parts of the journey by ourselves, But, if we choose to, we can always have each other as companions.  May we always remember, we do not have to be alone.

Amen